Proper burial for religious articles

Faithful disposing Many Catholics have religious articles, rosaries and missals among them, that are in bad shape or no longer wanted. It seems sacrilegious to toss them into the trash or recycle bin.

Supposedly, the proper method of disposal is by burning but few people have the facilities to do so. That said, what happens to the ashes?

Would it be possible for the archdiocese to set aside a Sunday to collect these worn-out, no longer wanted items and on behalf of the faithful properly dispose of these items and their remains?

Thank you for considering this idea.

Editor’s note: “For anything that is blessed, i.e., rosaries, books, palms from Palm Sunday, etc., the best way to dispose of them is to bury them,” Laura Bertone, director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship, told Catholic San Francisco. “Parishioners who have something they no longer use such as a broken rosary or items they have received from a deceased family member can either do that themselves in the backyard of their house, or they can always bring it to their parish and ask that their parish bring it to the chancery. If people want to come into the city they could stop by and bring things directly to the chancery and we would take them and then we make sure that they are properly disposed of. Parishes are always welcome bring things to the chancery and we collect them whether they are things from parishioners or things used by the church that they no longer can use.”